


a night sky, red and blue

by theimpossibleimpala



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Among Us (Video Game) Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Developing Friendships, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Morally Ambiguous Character, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Secret Identity, Sokka (Avatar) is a Good Friend, Sokka sees the good in people, Suspicious Red (Among Us), The Skeld (Among Us), Zuko wants to be better, and other characters from the series - Freeform, but platonic mostly, occasional attempts at humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 06:46:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28467027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theimpossibleimpala/pseuds/theimpossibleimpala
Summary: “Is this all they have?” Zuko comes up next to him and grabs a bowl.“There’s rice, thank god. But no meat. I told Cabbage Man that if he just cut some beef up and threw it in we’d all complain a lot less about cabbage stew.” In spite of his words, Sokka grabs a ladle and serves himself some stew. Then he adds some rice straight into the bowl, and sighs deeply. “Yum.”Zuko can’t help but smile a little, amused by Sokka’s attitude. He leans over the pot and steam fogs up his helmet immediately.Sokka laughs, “You gotta take off your helmet to eat, dude. Look at me.”Zuko turns to the sound of his voice. A finger suddenly draws a smiley face on the  glass of Zuko’s fogged helmet.
Relationships: Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Jin & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 29





	a night sky, red and blue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [featherlight221b](https://archiveofourown.org/users/featherlight221b/gifts).



> this is a new years gift for fea! I've had a fun time writing this, and really hope you like it! I haven't written anything but bts yoonkook for like, a year, so this quite a change :)
> 
> Here's to 2021!
> 
> ~
> 
> FOR CLARITY:  
> Katara: CYAN  
> Aang: WHITE  
> Sokka: BLUE  
> Toph: DARK GREEN  
> Azula: ORANGE  
> Zuko: RED  
> Jet: BLACK  
> Gan-Lan (aka the Cabbage man): BROWN  
> Haru: LIME  
> Jin: PINK

“Listen, Zuzu,” Azula bats the side of Zuko’s head, making him flinch. Father wants us to stop this ship from landing in the Fire Nation. What’s so hard to understand about that?”

“I don’t understand why President Ozai sent us,” Zuko makes a face. 

“Because we’re the only ones who can be trusted. You know we’re supposed to have a peace treaty now. If the rest of the galaxy found out the Fire Nation was still forbidding visitors we’d be thrown straight back into war.”

Zuko sighs, pushing at his messy bangs. His father likes war and battle doesn't he? He should really go on these missions himself. It’s difficult and tiring to do all his dirty work.

“Zuzu, I will tell father if you don’t do your job. Do you really want to risk being expelled from the nation?”

“Father wouldn’t.”

“Well what do you think happened to mother?” Azula looks at her sharp, black nails nonchalantly. 

Zuko’s mouth drops open, “She was sick, Azula. She died.”

“That’s what dad likes everyone to think. You know as well as me that she betrayed him when she told the nation we would concede the war. He wouldn’t even let her back in the palace that night.”

“How would you even know all this?” Zuko’s nostrils flare as he tries to keep his rage down, eyes trained on the floor. Azula lies. She lies a lot. But sometimes, usually when it’s about their father, she tells the truth. 

“One of the generals told me. He was there that night and saw mother get banished from the nation. Apparently father thought it would be a mercy to kill her. I’m not saying this to upset you,” Azula bats her eyes and brushes her nails under Zuko’s chin to make him look up at her. “I’m just warning you. We don’t want you to lose your honor and be banished from the kingdom, do we?”

“Of course not,” Zuko takes a deep breath and straightens his back. “I’ll do what I have to to bring down the ship.”

“Good,” his sister smiles sweetly. “Now remember, we’re scientists. We’re going to have full access to the labs and people will come to us for random clinical stuff. You did your reading?”

Zuko nods.

“You need to put your mop of hair up,” Azula picks up a hair and from the table and flings it at Zuko. He narrowly dodges it striking his face. “Stay tidy, and  _ try  _ to be professional, okay?”

“Anything for the Fire Nation,” Zuko replies flatly. He goes to the mirror in their hotel bathroom and looks himself over. Simple black slacks and a button up, a white lab coat thrown over them. He combs his hair up into a top knot and frowns at the sight of himself wearing this  _ costume _ . He doesn’t like this, but he knows it’s necessary for the nation's ambitions. The Fire Nation on their flaming planet made of lava and heat is all he’s ever known. His family are the only people who’ve ever seemed to care about him. He can’t stand the thought of being cast out from it. 

~

They meet the other members of the crew an hour later at the launchpad. All the supplies have already been loaded into the ship, and now it’s just the people. Azula and Zuko brought a lot of random cases full of “science” stuff for the experiments they will allegedly be doing when they land on the Fire Nation. Of course, that’s all just cover. They need to remove all the passengers on board before they ever arrive at the volcanic planet, and then Azula and himself will land it there safe and sound. Send out data to the headquarters that say the ship safely made it (not mentioning that the crew mates didn’t). 

There’s ten crewmates in total, if you include Azula and Zuko. Although, they’re more like imposters than anything else. Faking their tasks. Pretending like they belong on the ship. Pretending they have a love of science and volcanic experimentation. They’re lucky none of the passengers seem at all knowledgeable about sciences.

Zuko doesn’t bother trying to learn anyone’s name before they board, but he can’t help but overhear some of their conversations.

“Stop it! You’re not my mom, Katara,” a guy dressed in a dark blue space suit pushes a girl away. His hair is shaved on the sides and pulled up into a small ponytail in the back. He has on a necklace made of animal teeth just barely visible on his neck.

“I’m telling you, your wolf-tail won’t be comfortable under the helmet!” The girl seems to be his sister, and she’s dressed in a cyan suit. The name ‘Katara’ is sewn onto the outside. 

“Then I’ll deal with it, jeez!” The brother pushes her away again, clutches protectively at his ponytail, and then picks up his helmet from it where it crashed onto the concrete. His name is ‘Sokka’ according to his dark blue suit.

“Don’t we get on so much better, Zuzu?” Azula whispers from his side. “Those two are just ridiculous. I hope they’re not in charge of flying the ship.”

A cool breeze sweeps through the airfield, and Zuko enjoys his last deep breath of air as they begin to board. They go up the platform into the hull of the ship, where they keep storage, and then are taken to Navigation where the crew all straps into seats as they prepare to launch. Zuko glances at his sister as they all put on their helmets. Her piercing gaze is on the crew surrounding them; she sizes each one up. In the next couple weeks, they’ll all be dead. It’s awful to think about, but Zuko will try and let Azula lead the charge while he lends minimal support. 

Zuko’s suit is red, his sister’s is orange. They’re not exactly subtle. They’ll have to be careful not to get caught. The past few days they’ve been studying the ship’s blueprints, and there’s a series of vents that they can use to slip from room to room that the crewmates won’t use. Zuko’s not sure what would happen if he and Azula were caught. Would they be forced to kill them all at once? Would they be captured and turned in to the space police before they could? Would their father come for them, or would he pretend they planned this alone? Zuko wouldn’t put it past President Ozai to give up his own kids in the name of self-preservation. (Zuko wants to believe better of his father, but he can never be sure of where his loyalties lie.)

But Zuko knows that the Fire Nation is great. That it’s the best in the galaxy, and that’s why so many have tried and still try to steal its riches and power. Which is why Zuko is here. And why he will help Azula stop the crew mates on board the ship from ever landing in the Fire Nation.

The ship shakes and trembles. Rattles Zuko’s anxieties around inside his suit as he breathes the stuffy air from his tank in gulps. He clutches at the straps holding him in place and shuts his eyes as they take off. He can’t wait for them to level out amongst the stars and cruise smoothly through nothingness. 

~

“You can call me Gan-Lan,” says the man in the brown space suit. “I’m in charge of identification and checking your daily activities. You’ve all been given a card to swipe each morning for check-in and to get a list of your daily duties. Now—”

Zuko zones out as Gan-Lan continues rambling on about tasks and his famous cabbage soup he’s making for dinner. They’re sitting in Administration around a bright green table, a map of the entire ship laid out right on top of it. Zuko’s very familiar with the layout already, but being here in person has really given him a better idea of the scale of things. The ship is fairly large and spacious, but it takes no longer to walk from the Upper Engine to Shields than 10 minutes. Zuko had counted during their tour earlier, but also taken care to note the exact location of the vents on the metal-grate floors of the ship. Even in the tiled rooms vents were located in corners, occasionally emitting bursts of steam and warm air.

The guy from earlier, Sokka, is sitting next to Zuko and whispers suddenly, eyes still on Gan-Lan. “Hey. You’re new here right?”

“Uh, yeah,” Zuko replies dumbly.

“Well, just so you know, no one calls Gan-Lan, Gan-Lan. We call him the Cabbage Man. He smells like cabbages and loves cabbages and his family owns a cabbage corporation. I think they’ve even started making engine fuel out of cabbages. He’s the Little Cabbage Man Who Can.”

_ “Can _ what?” Zuko frowns, feeling like he’s missing something when Sokka chuckles to himself.

“You know, like the  _ Little Engine that Could. _ ”

“The what that could what?” 

Sokka mouth goes funny, “I don’t know. He just  _ could.” _

“Oh.”

“Anyway man,” Sokka elbows Zuko’s red suit with his dark blue one. “If you ever get tired of cabbage soup, I got the good stuff. Just let me know.”

Zuko nods silently before looking back at the Cabbage Man. It’s good that a member of the crew was so willing to share information with him, but frankly none of it is of any use. President Ozai wouldn’t have any need for a cabbage merchant. 

Zuko and Azula are last in line to scan their cards, and when they get to the font Gan-Lan looks over them carefully. 

“You two are our new lab scientists?”

“Yes,” Azula answers cooly, sliding her card with ease. “We’re preparing to do experiments in the Fire Nation on their soil composition and examine the stones and fossils there.”

“Really? That’s interesting.”

The Cabbage Man stares at his screen hard, then types on his computer, then looks back at Azula. “Your identification report is missing some information. Did you bring your paper copies?”

Zuko tenses beside her. It’s already started. Living in fear of being found out that they’re liars. That they’re here to sabotage the ship. They can’t have people suspecting he and Azula are imposters or else they could be ejected from the ship, or turned into authorities. They can’t fail at their mission, or else their father could banish them. Or at least, punish them. Though sometimes Zuko feels that Azula can do no wrong in their father’s eyes, whereas Zuko has to be twice as good to be told he even did well. 

“Oh, no, sorry Gan-Lan,” she purrs an apology and props herself up on the table using one arm. She leans over him slightly and is batting her lashes through her orange space helmet. “I left them at home. All the papers were approved for travel earlier though, won’t it be fine?”

“Hmm,” the Cabbage Man scratches at his chin. “I’ll have to send for a background check through Communications. No worries. Now you?”

Gan-Lan gestures Zuko forward and he struggles to swipe his ID card.  _ BAD READ. TRY AGAIN. _ Keeps popping up, and then it’s  _ TOO FAST. SLOW DOWN. _ Zuko sighs, agitated, and then Azula snatches his card from him and does it for him—easily getting it right. 

“Thanks,” Zuko avoids her glare as Gan-Lan looks over Zuko’s credentials. 

“Hmm,” the Cabbage Man hums, “looks like your paperwork has the same gaps. Your agency must have had some issues. Don’t worry folks, I’ll have Haru get it sorted out for us soon. We just need the background checks to be safe. You understand.”

“Of course,” Azula taps her fingers on the edge of the table then straightens up. ‘We’ll be going then, if that’s all?”

“Go ahead,” Gan-Lan gives them a thumbs-up and they leave Administration, walking side by side in the tight corridors. The sound of the engine hums and vibrates throughout the entire ship, muffled only slightly by the space gear. 

Once they arrive in Medbay where all their belongings are located, Azula shuts the door and yanks off her helmet. “We can’t let the background checks go through.”

“Okay,” Zuko glances around the room at the tubs of lab supplies and the cots laid out for them to sleep on. “So what do we do? Talk to the Haru guy?”

“Don’t be daft,” she places her hands on her hips. “We need to stop him from communicating outside the ship.”

“It’s too soon to kill anyone,” Zuko says.

“Obviously,” his sister rolls her eyes. “We just need to get into Communications and break it. If they can’t call back to the base, they can’t call for help. Simple as that.”

“Alright,” Zuko grits his teeth. He supposes that’s fine. He’d much rather sabotage technology on the ship than raise a dagger to someone’s back. 

~

_ Beep! Beep! Beep!  _

Zuko’s eyes shoot open to the sound of the alarm. It blares over the intercom, scratchy and loud. It sounds like a panic alarm, but really it’s just time to begin the day. He rolls out of bed with a groan, biting back a gasp when he sees Azula staring at him from her cot. She’s already dressed in her orange space suit, twirling the ends of her black hair that escape from her tight bun. 

“About time you woke up,” she says. “Already took care of our little problem while you were asleep.” 

“Huh?” Zuko’s eyes stretch wide open, hands going clammy at the thought. 

“Don’t worry your little head, Zuzu,” Azula stands from her bed and pats Zuko patronizingly on the head. Like a dumb little dog. “I just let the Comms system get overheated.”

Zuko lets out his breath. Good. He’s not ready for the crew members to start pointing fingers at each other. Zuko gets dressed in his red suit and then he and Azula head to Cafeteria for breakfast. Most everyone else is there already. Zuko can see Sokka and his sister sitting together, talking to other crewmates—one dressed in dark green and the other in white. From introduction yesterday, he’s pretty sure the white suit is Aang, and the dark green is Toph. 

They help themselves to some oatmeal and dried fruit. It’s a far cry from the rich soups and seasoned poultry found in the Fire Nation, but the siblings swallow it down. A set of doors open with a whoosh of air and Haru, dressed in his lime-green suit, runs in. 

“Our Communications system is down! It got overheated last night, and there’s been some damage done to it,” Haru holds his face in his hands, distraught. He looks so guilt-ridden that Zuko feels his gut curl uncomfortably. He may not have broken the Comms himself, but he’s an accessory to the crime, at the very least. But… Zuko shakes himself. It’s okay. No one got hurt. 

“Oh no!” Aang frowns, face full of empathy. “It’s okay, Haru. It’s not your fault.”

“I must have not shut it down properly last night,” Haru shakes his head.

“Well can you fix it or what?” Spits a crew member dressed all in black. Zuko’s pretty sure his name is Jet; already he doesn’t like him. “Do we seriously have to turn this ship around?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” replies Toph. “Haru will fix it, I’m sure. We’ve been waiting months for this mission, we’re not about to turn around now.”

“What's happening?” Asks the Cabbage Man, walking into Cafeteria behind Haru. 

“Gan-Lan,” Haru grabs onto the man’s brown suit in earnest. “I’m so sorry. The Communications system got messed up overnight. What should we do?”

“Oh,” Cabbage Man purses his lips, wrinkles on his forehead. Zuko fels Azula straighten her back beside him. Now that Gan-Lan has arrived, they have to hope he doesn’t connect the Comms sabotage to the need for a background check on the two “scientists”. 

The Cabbage Man ends up making Haru eat breakfast, and then sends him off to start repairing. After eating, the rest of them file into Admin and swipe their cards, receiving a set of tasks.

“Trash!” Sokka shouts after swiping. He waves his card around angrily in the air. “There must be something else I can do. I don’t want to do trash.”

“Sokka,” his sister knocks the side of his helmet. “Quit complaining. I warned you that you’re not qualified for this trip.”

“I’m perfectly qualified!” He continues to argue with Katara loudly as they leave Admin. Zuko manages to get his swipe after just two tries. The printer squeaks, beeps, and wheezes as ink is pressed to paper. The task list come outs and he takes it. Test samples. Medscan two crew members. Once he and Azula finish their tasks they’ll be free to do work on their scientific endeavors—which obviously aren’t real. But that’s why it’s perfect. Finish their tasks quickly, then they're free to find ways to sabotage the ship and…

Kill crew members. 

~

Zuko has to wait an hour for his samples to be tested, so he takes the time to have lunch. He goes into Cafeteria and spots a blue suit at the buffet table. Well,  _ buffet _ isn’t the right word. There’s three pots full of steaming—

“Gah!” Sokka jerks his head away as the smell of boiled cabbage meets his nose. “Cabbage stew. Already? Man…”

“Is this all they have?” Zuko comes up next to him and grabs a bowl. 

“There’s rice, thank god. But no meat. I told Cabbage Man that if he just cut some beef up and threw it in we’d all complain a lot less about cabbage stew.” In spite of his words, Sokka grabs a ladle and serves himself some stew. Then he adds some rice straight into the bowl, and sighs deeply. “Yum.”

Zuko can’t help but smile a little, amused by Sokka’s attitude. He leans over the pot and steam fogs up his helmet immediately. 

Sokka laughs, “You gotta take off your helmet to eat, dude. Look at me.”

Zuko turns to the sound of his voice. A finger suddenly draws a smiley face on the glass of Zuko’s fogged helmet. He sees Sokka grinning widely through the eyes and mouth and he drew, and...Zuko feels something bubble up in his chest. He can’t stop the giggle, feeling silly and dumb, but Sokka joins him and then reaches over to carefully release Zuko’s helmet. Zuko yanks it off with one hand, inhaling deeply as he’s met by the cool, filtered air of the ship. It smells heavily of cabbage. 

“Thanks,” Zuko tucks his helmet under his arm then gestures at the rice. “Is it good in the soup?”

“As good as anything can be with boiled cabbage. I’d suggest putting it in to soak up the broth.”

Zuko nods and does as Sokka suggested, then he finds himself following him to a table and they sit together. They complain about the food, about their siblings, and just as Zuko takes his last bite he realizes what a terrible mistake he’s made. He can’t be friends with Sokka, or anyone on this ship. Even if Sokka is funny and nice, he can’t let that distract him from his mission. (Can’t let it stop him from killing Sokka when the time comes.)

“I have to go,” Zuko stands abruptly, bowl clanging on the table. 

“Cool see you later, man,” Sokka smiles, unphased. Zuko feels like he should say something to put Sokka off of him, but can’t bring himself to be rude when Sokka is the nicest person he’s been around in months.

~

“You saw the way she looked at you during dinner, right?” Azula hisses as they walk down the corridor to Medbay. “The girl in the pink suit? Whatever her name is? She likes you. Why else would she sit at our table?”

Zuko shrugs, trying not to think about the dark-haired girl who ate her dinner at their table tonight. She kept asking questions and when Zuko deflected she began to talk about herself. She came on the ship to gain experience in space travel. She’s from the city Ba Sing Se. She enjoys tea and pink and kept trying to move closer to Zuko or meets his eyes. Okay. So he _ had  _ noticed she likes him. He doesn’t even know why. It’s the fifth night here, and he’s only talked to her once before when she showed him how to work the laundry machines.

“She wants friends, Azula. Don’t worry about her. It’s harmless.”

“It’s harmless until she clings to you and you can’t get away to do your job! And Zuzu, we both know if she gets too close I’ll have to be the one to kill her. You’re too weak.”

Zuko flinches, ignores her. He storms into Medbay and removes his suit for bed. He blocks out Azula’s chatter and threats with a pillow over his head. He tries to breathe deeply. Get a handle on himself. It hasn’t even been a week. The job will be easy if he lets Azula lead and focuses on blending in.

Then the morning comes.

“Where’s Haru?” Katara asks the room at breakfast. “He’s usually here by now.”

“I think he’s working on the Comm system still. Yesterday he said he was nearly finished!” Aang tells them all brightly.

Zuko’s spoon freezes with his spoon halfway to his mouth. Almost done? Already? Will they need to sabotage it again? Will that be suspicious or will that work well enough? He peeks sideways at Azula, and is horrified to see an ugly smirk on her red lips. Oh no. Oh god.

“I’ll go bring him some food,” Katara says and goes for the buffet. She fills a bowl with steaming oats and dried berries and puts on her cyan helmet. She leaves Cafeteria and Zuko’s heart squeezes in his chest. 

“Zuko!” 

He looks up, and there’s Jin smiling at him with shiny white teeth. 

“Go away,” Zuko deadpans. He can’t let her get close.

“Silly you.” She slides into the seat beside him and slides a paper cup of coffee towards him. “I know you’ve been wanting coffee. I found some in the storage room for you!”

“How did you know that?” Zuko’s voice is hoarse with nerves. He refuses to look at the girl in the pink suit.

“Oh, um, I heard you tell Sokka.”

“Sokka?” Azula interrupts. “I didn’t know you’ve made a new friend, Zuzu.”

“I didn’t,” Zuko replies fast. He holds his sister's gaze and tries to keep his expression calm. “He just wanted coffee too and asked if I knew where it was.”

“I see,” her perfect eyebrow raises. Not fully convinced.

“Anyway, Zuko—” Jin taps his elbow and makes him turn to her (willingly this time, just so he can avoid his sister's looks). Part of Zuko just wants to stand up and slam his bowl on the table before stomping out of the room. If he were at home, he would in a heartbeat. But he’s undercover. He can’t just act out like that.

Turns out he doesn’t need to anyway.

“He’s dead.”

Conversations break off. Suits squeak as everyone gapes at Katara in the entryway. There’s a bit of blood on her cyan gloves.

“Haru is dead,” she repeats, voice so quiet they can hardly hear her.

But Zuko hears.

And then his heart beat grows louder. Beating in his ears as his hands grow sweaty in his suit. Sticking to the cloth inside and making his skin too warm. He’s used to living on a planet made of fire, yet it can’t compare to the burning anxiety of when his sister has just killed someone.

Jin starts to cry. She wipes her eyes with her pink gloves and leans against Zuko’s arm seeking comfort. He can’t offer it. For some reason he looks for Sokka. And finds the boy in the blue suit staring straight back at him. Sokka’s eyes are wide and shimmery. He should really be looking at his sister who found the body. Not Zuko, who is here to stop the crew mates from ever reaching the Fire Nation. 

There’s a commotion as Aang and the Cabbage Man race out of Cafeteria for Communications where Haru’s body is. Everyone else ends up following after them, Azula and Zuko included. After all, they’ll be the ones expected to examine the body. They’re supposed to be scientists. 

Jin ends up being pulled from and Zuko by Jet, who looks rather intimidating in black. He shoots Zuko a dirty look as he does—as if he were jealous of Jin clinging to Zuko over him. It’s really not what Jet should be concerning himself with right now. When they arrive at Communications Toph is the first to charge inside, pushing aside anyone in her way as they all stumble over their large space boots. 

Zuko and Azula lurk in the doorway, watching as Toph shuts Haru’s eyes with a cupped hand. The Communications system looks fried. Burnt up and all the lights are off. Aang looks over Haru’s injuries—blood at his temple—and then whispers various apologies to Haru in the hope he can hear them in whatever afterlife there might be.

Toph stands, reaching her dark green gloves towards the comms system. She’s in charge of wiring and electrical issues on the ship, but she didn’t know enough about the Comms computer system to help Haru. 

“This was tampered with,” she says. 

Gan-Lan squeezes past Zuko and stumbles into the room. “What’s been tampered with?”

“The Comms. See these wires? They aren’t connected properly. Putting them together results in buildup of excess energy and overheating. And eventually...shocking the whole system. Haru must have been working on it when he got electrocuted.”

“So you're saying someone did this on purpose?” The Cabbage Man crosses his arms.

“I can’t be sure,” Toph continues to examine the machine. “Haru could have made a mistake. He was in a little over his head to begin with. But...it is a pretty basic concept. He should have known it wasn’t safe.”

Azula and Zuko end up getting a makeshift gurney from Medbay and are tasked with doing a surface examination of Haru before placing him in the morgue. Which, horrifyingly, is on the ship. It’s on a lower deck that no one ever goes in. 

Zuko hasn’t been able to think straight since he saw the oatmeal spilled on the floor by Haru’s body. It was glistening mush. Dried berries on the floor around it. 

~

“Hey,” a familiar voice says in Zuko’s ear. “Are you okay?”

Zuko turns to see Sokka dressed in his blue suit, holding his helmet at his side. His hair is out of its ponytail, hanging loose down to his chin. 

“Your hair is down,” Zuko ignores his question.

“Yeah. Keep it between us, but Katara was right. The wolf-tail isn’t comfortable under the helmet,” Sokka touches his brown locks carefully. “Probably have some awful helmet-hair now.”

“No, it looks fine,” Zuko assures. “Although...maybe fix the middle part.”

Sokka jumps like he’s been shocked, dramatic as ever. He looks at himself in the reflection of a glass window that looks out at space. He runs his gloved fingers through hair until the part falls slightly to the left. Zuko shoots him a thumbs up in the mirror and Sokka returns it.

“Thanks man.” He pauses and then tries to nonchalantly circle back to what he asked before. “Are you okay? After the Emergency Meeting earlier you seemed pretty shaken.”

“Oh, yeah,” Zuko rubs the back of his neck over his red suit. “I just...don’t do well with dead bodies. Or conflict. I guess...I’m hoping they figure out that no one could have, um, killed Haru.”

“Yeah. It’s pretty awful. I pretty freaked out too, honestly. Katara said I shouldn’t walk around alone.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t,” Zuko blurts.

“What?” Sokka scoffs. “You serious? Didn’t you just say you think Haru’s death was an accident?”

“No, I said I hope it is. And...who knows. Better safe than sorry. Maybe someone in the crew doesn’t—uh—want us to make it to the Fire Nation.”

“That’s silly,” Sokka waves a hand dismissively. “Like there's an imposter among us? I don’t think so. That’s why Cabbage Man does background checks.”

“Still,” Zuko tries not to sound too desperate. But ever since Jin mentioned Sokka and Zuko’s friendship to Azula, she’s been watching them closely. Watching Sokka closely. “Better to be careful. If you’re alone there’s a higher chance of something happening.”

“So are you offering to be my safety buddy?” Sokka puts his helmet back on, securing the sides with a satisfying  _ click _ .

_ That’s not a good idea, _ Zuko thinks. If they’re in close proximity, the higher the risk of Azula killing him.

“You should stick with your sister,” Zuko answers. And then he walks away. Boots clunking on the metal floor as goes.

~

Dinner is a difficult affair. There’s cabbage soup and noodles, which is hard to swallow all on its own. But for some reason, everyone is staring at Zuko. Toph’s gaze is like boulders being thrown in his direction, that he’s desperately attempting to dodge as he gets seconds. Aang and the Cabbage Man are watching him too. The first skeptical look came from Katara, who is sitting at a table with Jet, whose feet are crossed on the table as he smirks. Why is he so smug?

Zuko rushes back to his seat, nearly spilling soup, and lowers his voice to speak to Jin who has once again joined him and Azula’s table.

“Why is everyone looking at me?”

“Oh, I was hoping you wouldn’t notice,” Jin frowns. “Jet has been spreading rumors about you since this morning.”

“Rumors?” Azula cracks her knuckles and pushes her half-finished meal away. “What do you mean?”

“He’s been saying you’re an imposter, Zuko. That you killed...Haru.”

All the blood rushes out of Zuko’s face. He feels stiff as he tries to absorb what Jin is saying.

“Because you’re not exactly a scientist type, and your background check never went through, and you’ve been pretty cold to some of the people here.”

“Cold?” Zuko repeats. “I haven’t talked to most people!”

“Exactly,” Jin bites her lip. “They don’t trust you.”

“What—what do I do?”

“Nothing. Obviously you didn’t do it,” Jin blinks her long lashes at him. 

“Jet is just jealous,” Azula adds. 

“Jealous?”

“Yeah,” Azula nods at Jin. “Because she likes you and not him.” 

Jin flushes red, looking down at her food. But it’s true. They all know it. Is Jet jealous? Is that really the only reason he’s trying to pin the blame on Zuko?

“Why do they all believe him?”

Azula shrugs, “They want an explanation. And anyway, clearly they don’t believe him that much if you’re still here eating dinner with everyone.”

Zuko hunches his shoulders and slurps down his food quickly. When he and Azula walk back to Medbay after dinner he can practically hear her brain chugging away. Plotting. Scheming. Strategizing their next move. Zuko gets a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as Azula takes today’s samples out of the machine and sets them back in the fridge. She takes off her orange helmet and sets it aside before sitting on the edge of her bed with her legs swinging back and forth.

“Zuzu,” her tone is sickly sweet, “I think it’s your turn."

Zuko swallows and turns away to take off his own helmet.

“You know father wants you to take a more active role in this mission. You need to prove yourself. And if Jet is gonna be a problem we need to eliminate him.  _ You _ need to. Don’t you want to protect your honor?”

_ How would killing him protect my honor? _ Zuko wishes he could shout at her. Instead he argues, “If I kill him, I’ll look more suspicious.”

“Not true. Toph is on the security cameras tonight. There’s one right outside of Medbay, so if you left tonight she would have to see you. But we have a vent in here. You can slip in and out and she will never know. You have an alibi they can’t deny.”

“I don’t know…” Zuko racks his mind for any kind of excuse, but finds nothing. 

“We agreed then. You’ll kill Jet tonight.”

“But I don’t even know where he sleeps,” Zuko says weakly.

“He’s in shields. There’s a vent right in his room. No one will see you enter.”

“How am I supposed to make it look like an accident?”

“You don’t need to,” Azula smiles. “We passed the halfway mark to the Fire Nation today. Now it’s faster for them to arrive than to turn back around. We’re in the clear.”

“We’re not  _ in the clear,”  _ Zuko mumbles.

“What?”

“I said fine,” Zuko exhales sharply. “I’ll do it.”

“Great. Night night, Zuzu. Father will be so proud.”

~

It takes longer than it should for someone to realize Jet is dead. He’s not one to usually get up for breakfast, so no one is concerned when he doesn’t show up before they go scan their cards. Zuko and Azula are walking out of Admin when they overhear Katara asking Gan-Lan, “Did Jet already check in?”

It’s twenty minutes later when the red lights flash and the alarm sounds. Emergency Meeting time.

They gather in Cafeteria around a singular, circular table with the remnants of breakfast still on it. This time it’s Gan-Lan who has blood on brown gloves. He just found Jet. Stabbed and bled out in his bed. 

“Jet was murdered last night.”

Zuko feels Katara and Aang look his way. 

“I know what some of you are thinking,” Toph speaks up. “You think it’s Zuko.”

There’s some cautious nods around the circle, even Jin in her pink suit looks anxious and in agreement. Toph points directly at Zuko from where she stands across the table.

“Where were you last night?”

“Um. I was sleeping. After dinner Azula and I went straight to bed.”

“Did you leave Medbay at any time?”

“No,” Zuko feels like he’s floating above his body. Watching himself lie with a confidence he didn’t know he possessed. “Only this morning for breakfast.”

Toph nods and drops her hand. “I agree. I was on Cams all night and he never left Medbay. In fact, I didn’t see anything on Cams all night. There was Sokka who went to the bathroom, but he didn’t go anywhere near Shields. I don’t know who did it, but it’s not fair to say it was Zuko. Anyone could be guilty.”

Zuko relaxes his shoulders slightly, and Jin nods vigorously in agreement. 

“So what do we do now?” Aang frowns and looks around the circle. “I don’t want to think that one of us is capable of this, but clearly someone is.”

“How do we know we can trust Toph?” Katara interjects, glaring at the girl.

“Katara!” Sokka says sharply. “We know her. How could you say that?”

“She was supposed to be on duty! Why didn’t she see anything?” Katara’s brows furrow.

“I watched the cameras all night,” Toph crosses her arms and sticks up her chin. “You got to sleep while I worked, princess. Don’t blame me.”

“I’m just saying, we don’t know that she’s telling the truth.”

“I’ll show you the truth!” Toph suddenly clenches a fist and slams it down on the table. Zuko flinches, as does everyone else, shocked by the threat of a fight.

“Stop this!” Cabbage Man flails his brow-suit arms. “Toph has been a crew member on my ship on two previous voyages. I trust her. But Katara brings up a good point. We need to pair up as we do tasks. Who knows when the imposter could strike next. Make sure to stick with your buddy at all times.”

“What about at night?” Jin asks. “Both times they’ve been killed while we slept.”

“You’ll share a room with your buddy too.”

“Do we need to turn back?” Sokka steps forward into the circle. “We need to get off the ship as soon as possible to get some help.”

“We can’t go back. The Fire Nation is closer. We need to handle this.”

“We can’t even use our Comms because everyone on this ship is incompetent!” Toph stomps. “I don’t trust any of you!”

“Listen, Toph. You can be my buddy,” Cabbage Man offers. “For now, everyone needs to go back to their tasks. At dinner we’ll make pairs. I’m going to try and send a distress signal in case there’s any ships nearby that could help.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Sokka agrees. Zuko can tell that the boy in the blue suit is mainly worried for his sister, who is clenching her cyan gloves into fists while tears threaten to spill from her eyes in frustration and fear. 

“I saw some ships within proximity an hour ago when I was in Navigation. I think you should reach someone,” Toph is still tense, but she too seems glad for at least some course of action.

But Zuko knows Azula would never let Gan-Alan send that signal. So Zuko needs to do something to stop him before she does.  _ But what? _ They’re dismissed and everyone begrudgingly returns to their tasks. Zuko watches Cabbage Man go back to Admin. They have a few minutes before he heads to Nav to send the distress signal. Azula stands with him, on the same page. Cafeteria empties and that’s when Zuko knows what to do.

“I got this one, Azula.”

“What are you going to do?” She smiles though, pleased at his enthusiasm.

“Let’s get to Medbay,” Zuko says in answer. They race back and Zuko goes straight for the control panel. It connects to the entire ship. They studied the electrical wiring before they boarded, and if Zuko remembers correctly… He finds a thin yellow wire, and snips it without hesitation. 

“What was that?” Azula is standing over his shoulder, observing.

“I trapped Gan-Lan in Admin. If he can’t get out he can’t send the signal.”

“But what about everyone else?” Azula frowns. “I could send the signal if I really wanted to.”

“No you can’t. It’s key activated, and the Cabbage Man is the only one who has it.”

Azula’s smile twists upwards even more, an ugly look. She reaches over and taps on the side of Zuko’s red helmet with her orange glove. “Such a smart cookie, aren’t you Zuzu?”

Zuko feels a flurry of pride. He did good. He helped her without hurting anyone. 

(But he still hears Jet’s dying breaths ringing in his ears.)

“Why do you call him the Cabbage Man?” 

“Because that’s what Sokka calls him,” Zuko answers without thinking. 

“Sokka, huh?”

“I just overheard him say it to Katara,” Zuko scrambles to cover up the implications of friendship.

“Whatever you say, Zuzu."

Zuko shuts the control panel after hiding the yellow wiring, and then the pair return to work examining the crew members’ Medscans. They work diligently at transferring data and inputting numbers into the computer base. It’s all going to be meaningless, but it feels good to do something repetitive. Zuko lets himself zone out, relieved in the knowledge he’s rescued the Cabbage Man for now. At the same time, he knows it’s only temporary. He can only put it off for so long. He’s not sure why he’s trying to help the crew members while simultaneously moving against them. Zuko doesn’t want more of them to die, but at the same time he can’t risk the wrath of his father if he were to mess up the mission.

~

There’s no cabbage soup at dinner. 

That’s the first sign something is wrong. 

“Where’s the Cabbage Man?” Sokka stretches as he walks over to the empty buffet table. The giant rice cooker is there, filled with premade rice, but that’s it in terms of food. 

“Is he still sending the signal?” Jin asks, words heavy with doubt.

“I think it’s time to pair up,” Aang announces. He’s short, even with his big white space boots, and so he stands on one of the chairs to get everyone’s attention. “Let’s get a buddy and then look for Gan-Lan.”

“Oh god,” Katara mutters, “is he dead too?”

They pair up. Katara and Sokka. Aang and Toph. Zuko and Azula, with Jin as their third buddy much to Azula’s annoyance. She doesn’t let it show. Just flutters her fingers at Jin and then glares at Zuko when Jin isn’t looking. Part of Zuko is relieved she decides to stick with him, because Azula can’t possibly do anything sketchy while they’re grouped up. 

Since Azula and Zuko know where Gan-Lan is already, they offer to search Lower Engine. As far from Admin as they can get. Jin babbles nervously the whole way there, going on about how sweet the Cabbage Man is and how she wishes she never complained about his soup and how she doesn’t know what they’ll do without him. They check by the gas fill-up and the wire panels, and then they go to Upper Engine and do the same. It’s then the lights turn red again and they’re summoned back to Cafeteria. They hurry down the hall, three sets of boots clanking, and Azula complains loudly about running.

“He’s trapped in Admin,” Sokka tells the trio as they arrive. 

“What do you mean trapped?” Azula blinks her eyes innocently.

“The door got sealed shut behind him.”

“How did you know he’s inside? Is he alive in there?” Jin grabs onto Zuko’s arm. He wants to tug away, but knows that would be rude.

“We heard him on the intercom panel in the hall outside Admin. He says he got trapped there right after our meeting earlier. He thinks someone was trying to stop from sending the emergency signal.”

“That makes sense,” Azula comments. “What do we do now? Just continue our tasks until we can arrive and get help from the Fire Nation?”

“That seems to be our only option,” Aang sighs. “I wish we could do more. We need to stay with our buddies. Toph and I will watch Cams tonight.”

Everyone agrees.

“The real question,” Sokka speaks up with a smile, “is who’s gonna make dinner for us all? Katara? Toph?”

“Like hell I’m cooking for you idiots,” Toph scoffs, but it’s light hearted. “Good luck.”

“I can cook!” Jin raises her pink glove. “Can someone help me?”

“I will,” Azula’s eyes flash. To anyone else the gleam would be determination, but to Zuko it’s something else. In all likelihood she’s going to scare Jin away from Zuko, threaten Jin until she joins a different group for tonight.

“Okay, then Zuko can stick with me for now,” Sokka comes over and slings his arm over Zuko’s shoulder. “Right, man?”

“Uh, sure,” Zuko feels sheepish. Why is he so much more excited by Sokka’s company than Jin’s? He really shouldn’t consider either of them friends, but they are. 

Azula is expressionless as she watches them, and then she leaves with Jin to the kitchen to start prepping the soup. Zuko hopes Jin takes the lead, because he knows for a fact Azula can’t cook anything without burning it. 

“Hey.”

Zuko drags his attention away from the exit and to Sokka. He still has his dark blue helmet on but he’s grinning through it. 

“Hey?” Zuko tries, feeling unbearably awkward.

Sokka pulls them down to sit at a table. Everyone else has remained in Cafeteria—Katara joins Aang and Toph to talk things out at another table.

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

Zuko’s mouth drops open, not expecting the bluntness from him. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s cool,” Sokka shrugs. Acting like it’s not a big deal, though it must be for him to bring it up. Or notice it. Zuko isn’t used to people noticing him. He’s always lived in his sister’s shadow. She’s always been better. At least, in their father’s eyes. And the entire Fire Nation.

“No, it’s not. I’ve just been...busy. I feel like—” Zuko sucks in a breath and tries to think of a way to be honest without exposing himself. “Azula has been working really hard at our tasks. She’s the lead scientist and knows what she’s doing. I just follow after her trying to help. I’ve been trying to work hard and learn from her but no matter what I try to do, it never feels like enough. I feel useless. I’d be better off doing something else.”

“I don’t know anything about science,” Sokka says. “So I know you’re a heck of a lot better at it than me. You don’t need to be as good as her.”

“Yeah but I’m just holding her back. I didn’t even want to come on this mission,” Zuko feels some of the knots in his shoulders loosen at the confession. It’s incredible what being honest feels like. If he weren’t here Azula would have finished the mission already. Zuko only came along because he had to prove to his father he deserves his title and to be the President’s son.

“You didn’t?"

“No. She made me. The, uh, company we work for made me.”

“Do you regret being here now?” Sokka rests one elbow on the table and takes off his helmet so he can prop his chin up more comfortably.

“I…” Zuko considers it. Truly does. Does he still wish he hadn’t come? Then he never would have made some friends. He never could have helped save Gan-Lan’s life, even if it’s only temporary. Or tried to protect Sokka from being an immediate target. On the other hand, Azula will make sure they all die in the end. She’ll sabotage the ship or stab them in the back and Zuko won’t be able to stop her. He’ll go on knowing he helped kill all these people.

Unless he stops her.

He could turn against her.

He could tell them all the truth. Would they believe him? Would they think him just as guilty? Does he really want to risk being expelled from his home and family? It wouldn’t even be a  _ risk— _ it would guarantee it. 

“No,” Zuko tells Sokka. The word just comes out. It feels right.

“Good,” Sokka smiles. He doesn’t ask why Zuko doesn’t regret it but it doesn’t seem he needs to.

“I’m sorry for ignoring you,” the boy in the red suit apologizes. 

“I already said it’s okay,” the boy in the blue suit reassures. “Besides, I get what you’re feeling.”

“You do?”

“I’m literally a garbage man. Every day I take out the trash and clean filters and that’s it. That’s all stupid Cabbage Man thinks I’m good for. How awful is that? Katara gets to work with cool reactors and engines and I’m stuck pulling levers and picking out grime. I know that I could do more if they let me learn, but they don’t. I wish I could prove myself to them somehow. Maybe if I could catch the imposter they’d finally respect me.”

Zuko listens to Sokka speak in awe. He had no idea Sokka felt that way. He always seems so cheery, so willing to do anything asked of him. And yet all this time, he’s been covering up all these frustrations. Zuko understands him from years of obeying his father and sister and all the authority figures who bossed him around as he grew up—trying to make him grow up faster. Mold him into someone who would die for the Fire Nation, even though the Fire Nation has never given anything to him.

Zuko has to protect Sokka. He has to do what he can to stop anyone else from dying. He has to sabotage his own mission. A double sabotage.

“But at the same time,” Sokka goes on, “I’m glad I’m here at all. It’s really cool to be on a ship with my sister and making new friends. Have you arm wrestled Toph yet? She’s crazy strong. You should. I can’t tell if you're weak or not through this,” he pokes at Zuko’s red suit with his blue finger.

“I’m, uh, not  _ that  _ weak?” Zuko offers, not sure how to respond to that.

“Let’s go,” Sokka straightens up and wiggles his fingers. “Arm wrestle right now.”

“What?” Zuko feels he has to obey in his alarm, and so he puts his elbow on the table and they clasp their gloved hands together. They fit together perfectly. Red and blue complimenting each other nicely.

“Three, two, one!” Sokka counts down without warning, and then is putting all his weight into his hand to try and make Zuko’s arm fall. 

Zuko fights back as hard as he can. Gritting his teeth and feeling a burst of adrenaline. This is different from the rush of fear that makes Zuko follow his sister and father’s orders. This a rush of competitive joy. It’s new to him, but he likes it. Low stakes, no one can get hurt (except for maybe a smidgen of pride). Their eyes meet, Sokka’s aflame with determination as his bicep quivers with effort. Zuko isn’t sure who he expected to be stronger, but so far they seem evenly matched. He’s certainly straining hard, a bit of sweat building up. Zuko uses the last of his energy to grip Sokka’s hand even tighter and force it all the way down to the table, winning with a satisfying  _ smack. _

“Hah!” Zuko throws his arms up in victory.

Sokka looks put-out for no longer than a few seconds. “Way to go man! I’ve never seen you look so happy.”

“You didn’t let me win on purpose, right?”

Sokka shrugs, “I was gonna lose anyway.”

“What!?” Zuko is about to argue, when Azula and Jin walk back in plates full of sandwiches.

They eat, and as Zuko suspected Azula has somehow scared Jin away from their table. Sokka stays though. It’s a relief that Azula can’t scheme with Sokka there, but it also makes Zuko’s stomach twist anxiously. She’s going to see how close Zuko’s gotten with the boy in blue and won’t like it. 

~

Zuko can’t sleep. He tosses and turns. Stares at Azula’s motionless body. Stares at the dark ceiling. Counts 154 times the red light flashes on the Medscan equipment and then gets bored. He sighs deeply, and then decides  _ screw it. _ He’s gonna go on a walk. Sure, there won’t be anything more suspicious than him wandering the ship at night alone, but he’ll be sure to stay in view of the security cameras that Toph and Aang are watching tonight.

He pulls on his red suit and secures his helmet, and then walks out of Medbay. He waves at the camera blinking at him in the hallway, and then walks quietly into Cafeteria. He passes through and then finds himself approaching Navigation. No one has a bed in there, so it might be a good place to just have some alone time.

Zuko sees the stars first. Glowing white, orange, red through the thick glass window above the control panels. They’re beautiful. Absolutely stunning. So many he can’t count. It’s almost like space is the color white, and the stars are the black specks. 

“Isn’t it amazing?” A voice startles Zuko. On the ground in front of the window is Sokka. His helmet is beside him, and he has his knees drawn up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them. “I come here every night and look at the sky.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“When Katara and I were kids our father left on a mission in space. He was supposed to come back after 6 months, but he never did. It might be silly, but part of me still thinks he’s out there in the stars searching for a way to get back to us.”

Zuko takes a seat beside his friend, his suit a welcome layer of warmth between him and the cold metal floor. He takes off his helmet and breathes in the cool, dusty air. 

“I don’t think that’s silly. Is that why you and Katara travel? To look for him?”

Sokka tilts his head, still looking ahead at the stars. “Not really. We do it because she likes it. But maybe...maybe it’s because of him too. We don’t talk about Dad much though.”

“When I was little my mom, uh, died,” Zuko shares. And before Sokka can pity him, he continues, “Except she didn’t really die. My father lied to Azula and I and made us think she was dead. Then I found out he’d, uh, kicked her out. She couldn’t come back to us even if she wanted to.”

“Have you looked for her?” 

Zuko’s heart drags down in his chest, like a weight has been attached to it. A ball and chain. “No. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

Sokka doesn’t say anything to that. They sit in silence. Zuko feels like the cosmos is unfolding before him. Endless, rich. If he looks any harder he’ll fall face first into and spiral into space; fall for eternity. 

~

“Whoever made the oatmeal today sucks at it,” Azula wrinkles her nose as watery oatmeal slips off her spoon and back into her bowl. 

“You could cook again,” Zuko shoves a bite in his mouth without complaint. 

“I don’t think so.”

“I guess putting cabbage and cheese on bread doesn’t really count as cooking,” Zuko stirs more sugar into his oats.

“Excuse me, it’s more than you’ve ever cooked in your life.”

“No, I cooked when—”

_ Ping ping ping! _

They turn their heads towards the sound. Sokka is standing on his chair with Katara at his side, banging his spoon on a water glass. 

“I have an announcement!”

“What?” Toph sounds grumpy already. “Can you shut up with that? I hardly got any sleep watching the cameras last night.”

“Yeah, really,” Aang stretches his arms over his head and yawns. “Chill out Sokka.”

Sokka furrows his brows, “I just wanted to tell you, I’ve come up with a plan to expose the imposter.”

“Sokka, please,” Toph rolls her eyes.

“No, seriously,” Sokka crosses his arms. “I have.”

“What is it?” Jin asks, peering up at him with admiration. She moved to his and Katara’s table after Azula scared her away.

Zuko restrains himself from glancing at his sister. He wonders if this is what Sokka was thinking about last night as they sat together. Was he planning a way to catch the killer? And he didn't trust Zuko enough to tell him? Not that Zuko can blame him. Sokka is right to not trust him.

“I can’t tell you the plan,” Sokka says. “Any one of you could be the imposter. I have to do it alone.”

“Sokka, come on now,” Katara tugs at his arm to make him get off his chair. “You can’t go off on your own. We need to work together to catch—”

“No!” Sokka cuts her off. “That won’t work.”

“Sokka, Katara is right,” Aang tries to reason with him. “We don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t. Don’t worry.”

Their argument continues back and forth, but Zuko blocks them out. His attention is on his sister, whose fingers are twitching in her orange gloves and eyebrows are raised nearly off her forehead. She clearly is planning something. Whether she thinks Sokka is actually a threat to the mission or not, she knows that Sokka has gotten too close to Zuko for her comfort. It makes sense that she’d want to go after him on her own.

By the end of breakfast they seemed to have talked Sokka down, and he isn’t going to do anything dangerous. So they all get in their pairs to start their daily tasks. Zuko and Azula finish their Medscan examinations quickly, and then Azula pushes Zuko towards the computer to start inputting the data. He knows she’s trying to distract him and keep him busy while she either leaves or plans a way to get to Sokka. Thankfully, his friend should be in a group right now. He’s safe.

Just as the assurance crosses his mind, the intercom comes to life with a crackle. 

_ “Jin and I, we, we lost Sokka!”  _ Katara cries. Zuko whips his head around and sees Azula still there, looking as surprised as him.  _ “We’re going to leave our tasks and start sweeping the ship. Can the other groups start looking to? Please, I’m really worried something could happen to him.” _

Aang rings in with confirmation, then Azula does the same. 

“Well,” she cracks her knuckles and looks at Zuko. “Are you coming?”

“Yeah,” his mouth is dry. He coughs to clear his throat but he can hardly think straight. Is Azula going to kill him when they find him? Is she going to make Zuko watch? 

“You do remember what I said, right? Father needs you to do well on this mission. Your honor is at stake. You could get cast off the planet forever, Zuzu. Just like our mother,” Azula ends with a sneer.

“You know what?” Zuko decides right then, right in this moment, he won’t be a part of this any longer. He can’t. “I’ll stay here. I don’t want to get in your way any more, Azula. Wouldn’t it be better if I wait?”

Azula smiles, “Yes it would.”

And then she’s going to the control panel in the wall, reaching inside, and flicking a switch. They’re drowned in darkness instantly. He hears a swish of metal, and knows that Azula has gone into the vents.

Oh no.

She’s gone into the vents.

Zuko runs out of Medbay, feeling along the wall in the hallway to guide him to Security.

“Aang? Toph?” He says just in case they’re here, but he knows they’re probably searching the ship as they said they would be. When no one responds Zuko finds the monitors and switches them on. He’s somewhat blinded by the intense light but squints through it for a glimpse of Sokka on the cams. A flash of dark blue near Electric, and Zuko knows that Sokka has just gone inside to see if he can fix the lights. Zuko is about to step away when he sees Azula in her orange suit running down the corridor from Comms, in the direction of Electric. She’s heading straight towards Sokka. 

Zuko has to get there first.

~

His heart is in his stomach, lost in a tangle of nerves and all his loose ends unraveling. Zuko feels like a mess of a person. Like a puppet who just cut his strings and now is running loose without guidance.

He’s gone against his father before. Against Azula many times. But they were over trivial matters, or when he was a kid and they excused his defiance as stupidity. But this? Running through air ducts as fast as he can, hunching his back and stepping lightly on the tender aluminum floor, in order to rescue a target from certain death? This is rebellion.

This is treason.

And Zuko knows if he follows through with his plan, he won’t ever be welcome back in the Fire Nation. His honor will be stripped from him. 

Yet, it isn’t as terrifying to think about as it was before. There are other ways to live. Better ways. And his father and the Fire Nation can’t keep getting away with breaking the treaty they signed. One that promised safe travel and visitation to the flaming planet. 

Zuko watches the colored stripes beneath his feet as they flash by. They’re red now—he’s below Electrical. He looks up, slowing down as he tries to keep his breathing silent. The vent is above him, light slipping through the slats and dotting his face like freckles. He strains his ears, raising up on his toes for any signs of movement above. There’s only the ever-present hum of the ship and the whirring sound of the electrical boxes. No footsteps. No squeak of a suit. 

He climbs up and out of the vent, crouching behind a wall of wires and panels with flashing, colored lights. Zuko’s mind has been swept clean of doubts. Of hesitation. For once, his mission is clear. And more importantly—it’s  _ good.  _

He sets one knee carefully on the ground and peaks around the corner, looking for any sign of Sokka attempting to fix the lights. When he sees no one, Zuko stands and searches through the rest of the room. No one is here. Which means Sokka didn’t actually enter Electrical—Zuko just assumed he did. 

Zuko enters the corridor, treading quietly, and keeping his ears peeled for any noise, his eyes squinting in the dark for any flash of orange eyes or a blue suit. 

Storage is filled with haphazard stacks of crates and boxes. Most are empty, but some have emergency food packs or supplies for ship repairs. Zuko feels his way around a pile, certain that Sokka must be near. He had been going this way. 

Zuko flinches, the lights suddenly snapping back on and spotting his vision. He blinks hard, trying to regain his sense of place. A horrible thought crosses his mind:  _ I’m too late. He’s dead. They’re all dead. Azula completed the mission.  _ But—no. No. There isn’t time to panic. Zuko takes another step around the dense stack of boxes, and then jerks back when he sees orange.  _ Azula.  _ She has a massive knife clenched in her fist behind her back,hugging the wall as she walks to hide from—from who? From Sokka? 

Zuko goes back around the stack of boxes, and when he rounds it, directly ahead of him is Sokka walking down the corridor—with Azula not ten feet behind him, lurking around the corner in Storage. Any moment she could take off after him and stab him to death. 

From where he’s crouched behind a crate full of rice sacks, Zuko can’t do much of anything but watch. With the lights on, Azula would see him trying to run past before he could get halfway to Sokka. He wonders what she would do if she knew he was planning to betray her. Would she kill him too? Would she ship him back to the Fire Nation to be prosecuted as an enemy of the state? Zuko wishes he could reason with her. Make her understand that death and power aren’t the most important parts of life. Tell her that their father isn’t all he seems to be. 

Show her that they’ve hurt people. The Fire Nation is the epitome of cruelty, and they need to change for the benefit of all humanity. 

Azula though, is her father’s daughter. She treats him like a god. Sees his word and the Fire Nation’s code of honor as the only things of value. 

Zuko was like that too. But—  _ “You just could never get over your mother’s death, Zuko. She is gone. And you are weak for not honoring her by fighting for the Fire Nation,”  _ President Ozai had said. And that had made Zuko realize that his father’s values weren’t always right. Weren’t always good.

Have never been.

Azula is standing close now. With one step she’ll be in the hall with Sokka, her knife gripped steadily against her chest. Sokka has stopped walking. He’s got his blue-gloved hands on the windowsill, peering out at space. Stars are reflected in his helmet. Zuko glances around Storage, searching for anything to distract Azula with. Anyway he can slow her down so he can rescue Sokka.

That’s when he sees a big red button. What could be better than that?

Zuko picks up a sack of rice in front of him and turns around to slam it right against the button. It clicks, and instantly red, blaring alarms begin to go off as the main lights shut off. 

_ Fire! Fire! Fire!  _ A scratchy, recorded voice says through the intercom. There’s a creak, and the sprinklers come on from above and begin to rain down. 

Zuko doesn’t notice any of it. He sees Azula duck and hide the second the lights turn red, and that’s when he makes his move. He sprints out of Storage and into the corridor, red boots clanging on the ground under the cover of alarms ricocheting against the walls. Sokka, still standing in the hall, whips his head around and meets Zuko with wide eyes. There’s water sprinkling over him, running down the face of his helmet and clouding his vision. Zuko doesn't have his helmet in, so his hair is getting drenched and droplets cling to his eye lashes.

“Zuzu!” He hears Azula screech as he roughly grabs Sokka by the elbow and makes him run down the hall with him.  _ “How dare you!” _

Zuko doesn’t care. He keeps going. Feels Sokka’s confusion practically radiating out of his suit and is so grateful that Sokka runs with him despite it. Azula’s steps are loud behind them, matching the pace of Zuko’s heartbeat in his ears. They dash through the end of the corridor, Zuko yanks them into Shields, and then pops open the vent in the corner and pushes Sokka inside first before following after. The metal grate slams shut above them and Zuko gestures for Sokka to run through dark, musty space ahead of him.

He goes just as they hear a commotion above. 

_ “Stop!” _ It’s Azula.

_ “Shut up!” _ And that’s Katara. There’s a loud clang, and that all Sokka and Zuko hear before they turn a corner in the vents and come to a stop.

They pant, Sokka’s helmet fogging up, and Zuko decides to get ahead of the questions and answer them first. Just as he opens his mouth, Sokka unclasps his helmet and breathes deeply. There’s sweat covering his face and his dark hair hangs loose around his face. His blue eyes are wide, mouth parted in awe as he gapes at Zuko. Looks at the boy in the red suit as if he’s never seen him before. 

“I’m sorry,” Zuko gushes. “I’m—Azula—we’re—we’re not really scientists.”

Sokka’s eyes get bigger.

“We’re the imposters. Our father is President Ozai and he doesn’t want people coming to the Fire Nation. He sent us to sabotage the ship and the crew.”

“Why did you help me?”

“Why did you try some plan on your own to find the imposter?”

“I didn’t,” Sokka has finally caught his breath. He pushes his hair back and smiles slightly. “There was never a plan. I wanted the imposter to come after me while I was alone so everyone could see who it was.”

“But how would they see who it was if you were alone?”

“The same way you found me,” Sokka says. “The security cameras.”

“The security cameras,” Zuko repeats.

“Can we get out of the vents now?” Sokka keeps walking through the vent, peering up in search of the next grate. “I’m pretty sure Katara knocked Azula out with one of the frying pans. That’s her weapon of choice. I keep telling her to get a boomerang. Did I ever tell you I have one at home? Well, I do, and it’s my prized possession.”

“Sokka,” Zuko reaches out and catches his friend by the hand. “What are you gonna do?”

“Do?” 

Zuko rubs his neck, feeling awkward. His hair and face is still wet from the sprinklers going off, but it seems someone has turned them off because the alarm has stopped ringing. Is everything really gonna be okay? Will they let Cabbage Man out, turn the ship around, and get everyone home safely?

Well. Almost everybody.

At least the Fire Nation should be exposed—assuming the crew can finally figure out who Azula and Zuko are and prove the motives. 

Zuko speaks almost inaudibly. Maybe if Sokka doesn’t hear him say it, it won’t be true. “I’m an imposter too, Sokka.”

Sokka squeezes Zuko’s gloves hand, “The only thing I know is that you saved me, and that you’re my friend. I also know that the cameras saw you protect me, and Azula almost hurt us both. As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one imposter on board this ship.”

“Sokka—”

“There is only one imposter,” Sokka repeats, serious. “And she’s been found. We’ll eject her in a pod, get her picked up by the space police, and everything will be okay.”

And that’s exactly what happens. They pull the footage off the cameras, set the Cabbage Man free, and stuff Azula into a pod to be dealt with by the authorities. The crew mates turn the ship around and head back home. Towards  _ their  _ home. (Away from Zuko’s, and away from the only life he has ever known.) 

Thankfully, Sokka sits with him every night as they travel. They watch the stars through the windows in Navigation, Sokka shares his secret stash of snacks, and they eat cabbage soup for dinner. Sokka gets upgraded from trash man to data downloads and transmissions, and Zuko gets reassigned to trash and cleaning O2 filters. And honestly? He couldn’t be happier.

When they land, the red and blue space suits come off. But the bond Zuko and Sokka made stays. Katara doesn’t trust Zuko—he can’t blame her—but she tolerates him. And Sokka insists Zuko comes to stay with them while he figures things out. 

When Zuko reads the news of President Ozai being removed from office, he feels immense relief. 

And when Sokka suggests they sign up as crew for another mission, Zuko grabs his red helmet from the closet and says yes.

* * *

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